Funny Games (1997)

This superbly acted and paced Austrian film is out to prove that us moviegoers have yet to become so accustomed to cinema violence that we have lost our capacity for horror and empathy.

Funny Games is extreme without directly showing much of the violence on-screen. Director Michael Haneke brings up a most disturbing portrait of what some human beings are capable of doing to each other for no other reason than entertainment.

Haneke is known for toying with his viewers. On more than one occasion, one of the characters breaks the fourth wall to talk to the audience. This, however, in no way detracts from the powerful unfolding of the shockingly cold events.

2 comments

I saw this one in the theater back in 1997. I’ve never left the theater more shocked than with this movie. Like u said, the power of suggestion exceeds the actual showing of the violence here. I also remember there was almost no music what so ever in it, which in this case made it even more powerful too.